"Mariano isn't a heartless guy. He gave me an 'excellent' on my evaluation, and now the council has approved a budget of three thousand Gold Coins. But the payment won't be processed until the end of the year at the earliest, maybe even next year. My father and father-in-law gave me a budget of eighty-six hundred gold, each contributing half, but Milly and I decided we should save some of it."
'Wow, are your father or father-in-law looking to adopt? I'm feeling a little short on cash myself lately. As for Bart, he's basically paying out of pocket for his job. He must be a man who has risen above base desires. Although, seeing his dark circles and how radiant Amelia looks, I'd say he's only risen above *some* of them.'
The three of them sat around a table as Bart unrolled the Mage Tower blueprints from the designer.
